Title: MprF-mediated lysinylation of phospholipids in Staphylococcus aureus leads to protection against oxygen-independent neutrophil killing. | Journal: Infection and immunity. 2003 Jan;71(1):546-9 | Authors: Kristian SA, Dürr M, Van Strijp JA, Neumeister B, Peschel A. | Abstract: Staphylococcus aureus achieves resistance to defensins and similar cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) by modifying anionic membrane lipids via MprF with L-lysine, which leads to repulsion of these host defense molecules. S. aureus DeltamprF, which lacks the modification, was very efficiently killed by neutrophil defensins and CAMP-producing leukocytes, even when oxygen-dependent killing was disrupted, but was as susceptible as wild-type bacteria to inactivation by myeloperoxidase or human monocytes lacking defensins. These results demonstrate the impact and specificity of MprF-mediated CAMP resistance and underscore the role of defensin-like peptides in innate host defense. | See full PubMed entry: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12496209 |
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